Bobby Lippa Racing
Autobiography
16th Year Racing
Sunoco Modified #15
How it all began.....................
2011 starts our 15th year Stock Car Racing. How and where did this all begin? Over the next couple of weeks I’ll write the story starting when Bobby was 4 years old.
At age four Bobby was already very much into cars. From matchbox to big wheels, he loved cars and speed. As time went on, he found himself watching NASCAR and immediately found his favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt. Then, as well as of today Dale will always be his #1 Race Car Driver. His first autograph was Chad Little in 1991 at McDonald’s in Watkins Glen, NY on the way to his first NASCAR race. In 1992 as a family (the four of us; Dad Bob Sr., Mom Patty; Sister Debby & Bobby) we started going to the Glen for the next few years. From those years his taste for speed and competition grew.
What happen in 1996 that started this journey that has lasted the last 15 years?
Bobby graduated from High School and it was in July that I was telling him and a friend how I was in a couple demolition derbies. Well that started it. Before long they had a car & competed in three demolition derbies. The first two Bobby couldn’t drive because he hadn’t turned (18) but ran the 3rd at Spencer Speedway.
That fall I took him to a dirt track race at Genesee Speedway, Batavia, NY and that was the beginning that continues today. We picked up a mid 70’s Monte Carlo that was dirt, pure stock ready. So in 1997 we made our début at Genesee in the pure stock division. That year we were awarded the Pure Stock Championship and also Pure Stock Rookie of the year.
The car we ran in 1997 was retired so we took a street driven 1978 Monte Carlo and turned it into a race car for the 1998 season. That year we finished 6th but was awarded the best appearing car in the Pure Stock Division. Over the 1998-1999 winter months we made improvements to the power and handling. The 1999 season turned out to be a great year. We took home the Pure Stock Championship for a second time.
Not knowing at the time, the three years on dirt would pay dividends in the future.
After three years on dirt, Bobby decided to switch to asphalt. So over the off season (1999-2000) we converted the car to a Spencer Speedway Street Stock. This was an all new learning curve, especially competing in a very completive class. We were quite pleased finishing 8th in our first year, especially with an average of twenty cars competing each week.
In 2001 & 2002 we became very competitive and stayed in the points chase either in1st or 2nd. Both years we finished 2nd but it was a battle till the finial night and finial laps of the twenty lap feature.
Every September there is an end of season race at Oswego Speedway called the ROC (Race of Champions). This is when all the classes get together for there big end of season event. The Street Stock Division feature is a 75 lapper (longest one for this class). We entered the 2002 event. After a good qualifying position we were caught up in a second lap accident (about 10 cars) and our day was over. After evaluating the damage on the car it was decided to build a new car for 2003.
2003 saw the début of our new car. Working on getting the bugs out of the new car and almost there, we had a mid-season crash that resulted in using the rest of 2003 to iron out all the problems. Even with that happening, we stilled finished 4th over all.
May 2004 we came out completely ready to win the Championship. This was our year and we did win the Spencer Speedway Street Stock Championship, still in a very competitive class with the help of Dave & Mike Wiesner.
2005 & 2007 were almost parallel years, still campaigning at Spencer Speedway. Both years started off with the 15 Team bouncing back and forth from first to second to first in the points standings. Then after half way through each season we started experiencing mechanical problems. For those of you who do not know, it’s one of those things that just happens no matter what you do. It’s called “just racing”. All in all we ended each season in second. This makes the fourth time in seven years we were second in Spencer Speedway’s Street Stock Division.
2006 & 2008 like 2005 & 2007 were also parallel years. It was decided to take each of these years off from competing on a weekly basis. These two years we campaigned the car at different tracks. Wyoming County Int’l Speedway (WCIS), Dunn Tire Raceway Park, Lake Erie Speedway, Chemung Speedrome, Oswego Speedway and one appearance at Spencer Speedway in 2006 were the tracks we visited in those two years. Our last race was the Race of Champions (ROC) at the Oswego Speedway in September of 2008. This is (ROC) the end of year classic for short track racing in the Northeast. Powering a new engine we cut a tire in the qualifying heat for a twenty ninth starting position in the 75 lap feature. Saving the tires and staying out of trouble until twenty five laps to go we worked our way up to eleventh. Going for tenth we got caught up in a two car altercation that ended our day. After getting home we evaluated the damage to the car and decided what we were going to do for the 2009 season.
It was decided to campaign the car at WCIS for the 2009 season. Now it was time to prepare the car. First was to have the frame straighten. Then replace most of the sheet metal, paint and re-letter. While reassembling, any part that looked wore or fatigue was replaced. This was a full winter project (2008-2009) but we were ready to go on opening night on May 8th. Ready means we just finished the night before. So it was our shake down, practice and full event debut. The car hadn’t been painted or lettered, so we used that night as our shake down. Staying conservative we finished fifth. That following week we painted, lettered, made some adjustments and were back on the 15th to capture our first win for 2009.
We ended the season with a record of; 8-wins, 3-2nd’s, 1-3rd, 1-5th, 1-6th, 1-7th and a 9th at Oswego. This gave us the 2009 WCIS Super Stock Championship and the 2009 SST Super Stock Championship.
With the new car, we knew 2010 would be a learning year. Stripping it down to the bare cage, to checking the alignment and painting it, to completely re-assembling was quite a task and learning process. We were not quite finish when the season started so we campaigned the Street/Super Stock the first few weeks, a couple in the middle of the season and at the end. In all the Modified ran nine times in 2010, the Super/Street Stock six times with five rainouts for the season. We ended twelfth with the Modified at Spencer Speedway with only running nine races. With the Street/Super Stock we finished the season with three wins, five top fives and six top tens between Spencer Speedway and WCIS.
In the off season 2010-2011 we have made a lot of changes to the Modified. With the knowledge of last season we are now able to put a better car on the track. The biggest change is re-doing the drivers compartment that suits Bobby better. The team has high hopes for the up coming season.
This is some what of a condense view of how it all began and how it got us to this juncture. Click here to add text.
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The 1st #15 - 1997
This page was last updated: January 23, 2012
